PvXwiki:Style and formatting
This article details the style and formatting guidelines for creating and maintaining new articles about character builds. If you are new to PvXwiki, please read the whole guide to familiarize yourself with the build submission process before you start editing. By following this guide closely you can save yourself and others a lot of work. Creating a new build article Before you start Before creating a new build article, please look through the existing builds and see if a similar build is already available. If so, consider adding your build as a variant. If you decide to submit a new build, you have to create a new page for it, as described in the following section. Naming A new build article has to be prefixed with the abbreviated names of the primary and secondary professions. Team build articles are prefixed with "Team - " instead. For optional secondary professions, please use /'a'''ny, not /'A'ny. Always try to come up with a good descriptive name for your article. The following are ''examples of good build names: *Build:R/N Touch Ranger *Build:Rt/any Ritual Lord *Build:Team - Sway Note the "Build:" in front of the name. Build articles have their own namespace on PvXwiki, called "Build:". If you're not sure yet what the name of your new article should be, consider keeping it in your user space until you know. That is, replace the "Build:" with "User:YourUserName/" and give the build a generic name. For example, if your user name is Example, you would call it "User:Example/My New Build". You can follow this link to create that page. Later, when the build is more complete, you can it to it's final destination. Creating the page To create a new build article in the Build namespace, you can proceed in one of two ways. * Edit your or the Sandbox to create a link to your new build article. :For example, if your new build is called "R/N Touch Ranger", then add the following text to the sandbox: Build:R/N Touch Ranger :When you preview or save the page, you will find a red link. Click on it to start editing your build article. :Note: It would be appreciated if you remove the link from the sandbox after finishing. * Alternatively, if you are more familiar with wikis, you can go directly to the URL of your new build. The "R/N Touch Ranger" page will be at http://www.pvxbuilds.com/index.php?title=Build:R/N_Touch_Ranger Note that the build "R/N Touch Ranger", used as an example here, already exists! To submit a new build article, you must give it a new name, following the naming conventions described above and in PvXwiki:Build Naming Policy. Template The following is a barebones template of a new build article. Just copy and paste this text into your new page to get your build started. You can also click the last icon on the editing toolbar. Note, however, that the toolbar button leaves the template tags out due to technical restrictions. Describe the build. Attributes and Skills prof=Primary/Secondary Attribute1=12+1+3 Attribute2=10+1 Attribute3=8skillskillskillskillskillskillskillskill/build * Suggest a few optional skill(s) if you included an Optional slot in the skill bar. Equipment * Armor * Weapons Usage Describe how to use the build. Counters Describe important counters. Variants List the major variants. Notes Add any additional notes pertaining to your build. Omit this section if it is not needed. See also Link to any articles that are related to your build. Omit this section if it is not needed. External links Links to pages that are not found in PvXwiki should be placed here. These include videos, discussion threads, etc... Omit this section if it is not needed. Sections Category tag Begin the build article with a category tag, which shows the current state of development of the article: * as long as you are still assembling it, * if you're done with the article and would like others to review and comment on it, * when the build is ready for testing and vetting. Remember to list the gameplay types the build was designed for in the Untested tags, e.g. . See below for a list of supported gameplay types. Please note: * Not more than one of these tags may be used on a single build article! * On a page in your user space, please do not use any of these tags. It might give readers a wrong impression of the build's status. * On an article in the build namespace, always use one of these tags. If in doubt, choose . Placing the tag will automatically assign the build to the corresponding categories. This function is disabled when a tag is used in user space. Summary Immediately give a short summary of the build. Do not give this summary a section title like "Overview" or "Introduction", as these titles are understood. It is generally preferred to begin the summary by stating outright what the build does. For example, the R/N Touch Ranger build begins as follows: A Touch Ranger makes use of a ranger's durability in getting close to his opponents and "touch" skills from the necromancer's arsenal to steal his opponents' health. This build uses a high rank in Expertise to reduce the energy cost of the key skills Vampiric Bite and Vampiric Touch. Notice that the build is referred to in bold (sans the profession prefix). This section should generally contain: * A mention of the key skill(s) in the build * A listing of which game styles (PvE or PvP) it applies most to. For PvP, a further clarification of Random Arenas, Team Arenas, Heroes' Ascent, Guild versus Guild or Alliance Battle should be given. For a farming or running build, the main areas or opponents it was designed for should be mentioned. Do not fill the introduction with: * A mention of every skill used in the build * A list of attributes and ranks * Detailed usage or counter discussion. This introduction section should be no longer than one paragraph. Attributes and Skills * Use the PvXcode template (see the example above) to list attributes and skills. * Alternatively, you can use to generate the wiki code from the in-game skill template. * If you use the old GuildWiki-style template to list the attributes and to list the skills, you have to convert these templates to PvXcode via . * The attribute listing should use the rank + headgear + rune syntax (e.g - 12+1+3 instead of 12+3+1). Do not add spurious = signs in the attributes or you will confuse the template. * Make sure your attribute point allocation is correct - you shouldn't have lots of unspent attribute points, nor can you spend more than 200. The Attribute point spending article can be used to check this. Equipment List only the following: * Essential weapons * Essential armor Do not list runes (which can be derived from the attribute listing) and non-essential gear. Try to be as brief as possible. Note: The only case where runes should be listed is if they are essential to the build's usage (e.g. when you have to switch armor or headgear at a key point in a run). Usage Present usage information as much as possible in brief and in bulleted form. * Wikify the first mention of a skill, but do not wikify all mentions. * Try to be as brief in your descriptions as possible. You do not need to document game mechanics such as "hit C to target nearest" unless it is essential and non-intuitive. Assume that readers know how to play the game. Counters List the counters to the build as stated. * Only list the principal and effective counters for the key idea of the build. * Do not mention general counters such as "run away" or "kite" unless it is extremely relevant to the build. Variants List the principal variants of the build. * Try, as much as possible, to not suggest replacements for the key skills in the build. * If a variant you suggest requires an entirely different style of playing, it should be in a different build article. * There should only be one attribute and skill bar in a build page. If what you're trying to do cannot be described on one or two lines, it is usually not a viable variant. Notes In this optional section, list information about the build that is not relevant to how to play it. Items of note might be a brief history of the build, or notes on whether the build is or was a premade build, etc. Try, as much as possible, to avoid adding this section. See Also In this optional section add references to related pages on PvXwiki. External Links In this optional section add references to related pages or well known external sources. Standard limitations on linking to external sites apply. Do not link to your guild's website. The link will simply be removed. Gameplay types Once the build is ready for community review, apply the tag. The codes for the gameplay types are as follows: | | valign="top" | |} Attribution Originated on GuildWiki. Also see history at time of transfer. Style and formatting